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CPD Mini-Courses in Public Diplomacy

For over 16 years, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy has been the go-to program for public diplomats and international communication professionals looking to sharpen their skillsets and analytical capabilities essential for success in today’s complex environment.

Our training utilizes the latest social science research and cutting-edge communication tools in real-time public diplomacy challenges. It provides a setting for practitioners to re-examine and refine their skills in a group of peers and to build an international network of colleagues.

Effective Storytelling for Public Diplomacy

This workshop explores content-creation strategies to spark conversations and drive engagement for greater public diplomacy impact. It focuses on adapting to changing media consumption behavior and narrative formats. Participants will develop skillsets in producing content in a variety of formats and channels.

Modules

AI and Bots for Public Diplomacy
An introduction to AI's applications in content creation in the context of public diplomacy. Participants will develop an audience-based strategy for a beta chatbot and prototype a chatbot that may be used in their organization. 

Digital Storytelling
How to create and share digital content in innovative and engaging ways. From mobile to desktop, participants will learn new tools and practices for digital storytelling.

Knowing & Crafting Your Story
This module introduces the core principles and a messaging framework for creating relevant, meaningful narratives.

Organizing To Amplify: Telling Your Story
Explore how to amplify-tell your story through the media and keep it relevant as part of public diplomacy outreach.

Understanding Our Dynamic Media Landscape
This session will take stock of the fast-changing media landscape and its implications for storytelling.

Virtual Reality and Immersive Storytelling for Public Diplomacy
The transformative experience of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) has arrived for public diplomacy applications. Participants will become familiar with the basics of immersive storytelling and what makes a compelling narrative.

What Makes Content Go Viral
Discover best practices in social media posting and what not to do, with an emphasis on crafting compelling posts that tell your organization's stories through examples and illustrations.  

Schedule

This workshop was held February 8–10, 2023, in USC's Washington, D.C. office. This program included 16.25 content hours, with three days of on-site classes. You are expected to arrive on time and attend all modules. Unfortunately, there are no make-ups. All scheduled meeting times will be in Eastern Time (time zone converter here). Here is the schedule:

  • Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 9:00am to 4:30pm
  • Thursday, February 9, 2023, 9:00am to 4:45pm
  • Friday, February 10, 2023, 9:00am to 2:00pm

Tuition

  • Single participant: $2,250 USD
  • Multiple (3+ from the same organization): $2,050
  • 20% discount for USC alumni

Application

The electronic application can be found here. The application deadline was January 20, 2023 and the payment deadline was January 27, 2023. For more information, please email Renee Almassizadeh, CPD Assistant Director for Operations and Programming at almassiz@usc.edu.